This morning's newspapers and last night's news programmes carried heartbreaking reports about an evolving situation in a hospital in the midlands. Our thoughts must be with the family of the woman involved. When asked about the situation yesterday, the Taoiseach stated that he was aware of the case and that, while it was difficult, now is not the time for constitutional change. On Tuesday evening, the Minister for Health commented in this House that current law is too restrictive and, while he did not mention the case in Mullingar, it must have been to the forefront in his mind. Can the Tánaiste confirm whether this case was discussed by the Cabinet at any stage this week and if she or her Cabinet colleagues were aware of it? Can she also confirm the Taoiseach's remark that the Government does not intend to review the legislation in this area?
Leaders' Questions
First, regarding the media reports on the case of a young woman who is unfortunately brain-dead and being kept on life support, I understand her family is seeking to take a case to the courts. Obviously, I cannot comment in any detail on legal action that might take place.
I wish to express my sympathy for the family of this young woman on the tragedy that has happened. She had a serious brain trauma or brain event; I am not sure which it was. She was in Beaumont Hospital for a period of time but was subsequently transferred back to the hospital in her local area of Mullingar. At this time of the year, it is a terrible tragedy to visit a family and I sympathise with them.
The Deputy asked if I was aware of the case. I have been aware of it since late last Sunday, when I received a telephone call from the Minister for Health, who advised me in fairly sketchy terms - I think that was as much information as he had - about the very tragic circumstances of the case. Subsequently, I had a conversation with the Taoiseach. As to whether there was a discussion about it at the Cabinet, there was none of which I am aware. Obviously, I had a discussion with the Minister when he advised me of this potentially pending case and the tragic circumstances. I also briefly discussed it with the Taoiseach yesterday morning.
Clearly, it is for the woman's family and loved ones to decide how they would like their daughter to be treated. I understand they will possibly take court proceedings some time early next week.
This is a most appalling situation for the woman, her baby and her family. Will the Tánaiste and the House join me in asking those on either side of this debate to remember that there is a family at the centre of this and that whatever discussion and debate we have on this case in the next few days should put dignity at the heart of it? The case should not be used by any side to advance a political view on this issue.
I will be honest about this. The people voted in favour of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, but when it was put to the people the Labour Party recommended against voting in favour of that amendment. That was our position then and it has been our position for a long time. In cases such as this, the issue is the medical care of the woman. It is a relatively early stage in the pregnancy and my understanding is that the doctors have sought, and are seeking, to give both the woman and her baby the maximum amount of care and attention. Cases such as these are very tragic for the families involved.
Speaking as a mother and a woman, I believe there is a huge amount of common ground in this debate, which is sometimes drowned out by the noise from those at the extremes on both sides of what at times can be a very extreme debate. These issues are not easy. In the programme for Government the Government agreed to address a series of previous court case issues, such as the X case. I do not know the Deputy's views, but if I recall correctly, he was one of the Members who had reservations about legislation on these matters, and I believe he voted accordingly. However, notwithstanding the enormous difficulties, there is an unspoken agreement on all sides of the House among people in the centre ground to respect life and to ensure that the maximum and best attention is available to women who are pregnant, while respecting the right of choice and the right of women to seek the best possible outcomes in respect of their health and their lives. Obviously, that also involves the life of any baby.
This day next week will be Christmas Day, a time when families come together to celebrate the holidays. Over the next few days many loved ones will be returning from all parts of the world to celebrate with their families. Unfortunately, some will not be able to return home and there will be many empty chairs around dinner tables next Thursday. Many of those who are unable to return hold out the hope that some day they will be able to return permanently. Many were forced to emigrate due to the economic crash, the difficult financial circumstances in which they found themselves and the years of austerity implemented not only by this Government but by previous Governments.
The sad thing is that many of the individuals who were forced to emigrate and are unable to return have no democratic stake in the future of this State. They have been denied the right to vote in presidential, general and local elections, so they are unable to vote for political parties or individuals whom they believe will create the conditions that hopefully would see them return home for good. One of the discussions at the Constitutional Convention was on the extension of voting rights in presidential elections to Irish citizens living outside the State, and the convention voted overwhelmingly to recommend such an extension to the Government. Many people would have considered that to be the first step in a process which would eventually enable Irish citizens to vote not only in presidential elections but also in future general and local elections. Will the Tánaiste explain to the Dáil, the people who are unable to return home this Christmas and the families who are facing a holiday without a loved one at the Christmas table why the Government has decided not to implement the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention and extend voting rights to those Irish citizens?
We are all delighted to see people coming home to Ireland from across the world. The good news is that, due to the expansion in employment here, for many people it might well be the first step towards what we hope is a permanent return home for those who wish it, after having spent time abroad and probably having gained extremely valuable experience for building a career in Ireland. I notice that in the course of the last year none of the Opposition parties has raised issues relating to the economy or employment-----
Where has the Tánaiste been?
-----but due to the strength of the growth in employment, unemployment has fallen.
There have been only 43,000 new jobs since this Government took office. I got the figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The Deputy referred to the catastrophic fall in the economy. I am happy to inform him that the latest figures show that unemployment has fallen below 11% and is now at 10.7%. Thankfully, it is now well below the eurozone average.
It is above the EU average.
When this Government took office, unemployment was up to 40% above the eurozone average.
However, Christmas is all about families coming home.
As Deputies will be aware, No. 38 on the Order Paper provides for the Dáil to discuss the fourth report of the Constitutional Convention. The Government takes the work of the convention very seriously. As the Taoiseach said, at our recent meeting a decision was made to put before the people, in late spring or early summer next year, two constitutional questions put forward by the convention. One is on marriage equality, while the other is on the age qualification of presidential election candidates.
There is not one on Irish Water.
The Government has been working through a menu of the very important proposals brought forward by the Constitutional Convention. There will be an opportunity for the Deputy and others from his party to bring forward proposals on the work of the convention.
While I cannot speak for other Opposition parties, Sinn Féin Members have consistently raised the issue of the state of the economy.
We have not heard it.
Then the Government has not been listening.
That is the problem; it will not listen.
That is the problem. It only hears what it chooses to hear.
If the Tánaiste wishes to set aside time to discuss the economic situation, she will not be short of Opposition speakers.
We could bring them in on Christmas Eve.
The Deputy should be careful what he wishes for.
While the two referendums are on important issues, marriage equality and lowering the age limit for those who wish to stand in presidential elections, a number of issues were discussed at the Constitutional Convention. Does the Tánasite believe it would be right to extend voting rights to Irish citizens who have been forced to emigrate and are living in America, Australia, Britain and across Europe? Should we give them the opportunity to have a stake in the formation of future Governments which will create the economic conditions, jobs and infrastructure to enable them to return home for good? Every job created is welcome; we will not belittle any job creation.
Sinn Féin trades in misery.
However, we are not creating enough jobs.
Sinn Féin's economic policies would drive them out of the country.
The number of people who have been forced to emigrate as a result of the financial crash and the continuing implementation of austerity by this and previous Governments means that it will be a very long time before they will have an opportunity to return home. Does the Tánaiste agree with her colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for the Diaspora, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, who, before visiting the United States last year, said he saw no reason we could not extend voting rights to those living outside the State in order that they could play a constructive, democratic role in electing future Governments?
We put the matter to the Constitutional Convention.
The Deputy may not be aware that the proposal that a constitutional convention be established was originally put forward by the Labour Party in opposition and adopted by the Government as part of its programme.
It is another unfulfilled promise.
I do not recall Sinn Féin putting forward any systematic proposal to review, in detail, various constitutional issues through the work of a randomly selected group of citizens who would come and give their view. When we took office, some of the highest levels of emigration had occurred after the economy had collapsed under the previous Government. Thanks to the Government, we can see that very difficult trend for families around the country begin to change.
What about voting rights? The Tánaiste is not answering the question. She is waffling.
I do not know whether the Deputy is aware that there is a huge amount of recruitment in Ireland and, in case people abroad are listening, I want to use the opportunity provided by the Deputy's question and positive comments about emigrants to say when people are at home, a job may be available to them in Ireland.
Hear, hear.
I would like that message to be sent. I would like emigrants to return and vote in Ireland.
The Tánaiste did not answer the question.
She did not answer. This is Leaders' Questions and answers.
The Government is working through the different proposals of the Constitutional Convention. I am glad that the Deputy recognises that the two referendum proposals to be put to the people are important. It is the judgment of the Government that it is appropriate that the two proposals selected be put before the people next year. Many very important proposals have been put to the people, including the referendum on children's rights. Our experience shows that we need to give each referendum matter time and that it should be the subject of very detailed discussion.
The Deputy asked about voting rights for the diaspora.
Another Labour Party policy has been scrapped.
I wish the Tánaiste and her colleagues a very happy Christmas. The mention of Christmas conjures up images of joy, warmth and family gatherings around the dinner table. However, for many, that is not the reality. In the past few days we have received reports from Threshold and Focus Ireland and this morning from the Simon Community confirming what is obvious to any of us who has been paying attention to the housing-homelessness crisis of late. The rent supplement issue is exacerbating the problem. The Simon Community described it as an emergency, while Focus Ireland in its report earlier this week stated that for many, the single reason they had become homeless was the rent supplement payment did not cover their rent. According to the report of the Simon Community, 3,000 people are in emergency accommodation, of whom we know hundreds are children.
While I welcome the 20 point action plan announced in the past few days, it is very limited in its geographic reach in preventing homelessness. The Tánaiste is the last hope for many families to keep a roof over their heads because she controls the rent assistance and family income supplement schemes. There is a problem with the pathway accommodation and support system, PASS, whereby local authorities are supposed to capture those at risk of homelessness. Many local authorities count only those who present as homeless, rather than those who are at risk of homelessness. There is nothing for those who are at risk of homelessness but who are in full-time employment. The family income supplement scheme does not take unsustainable housing costs into account.
A review of the rent supplement scheme is under way.
Is the amount budgeted for in 2015 finite, or will new money be made available, if required, for that scheme? I am encountering cases all the time of people in full-time employment facing rent hikes of 20% or 30%, and there are economic evictions in consequence. In such circumstances, would the Tánaiste consider even a short-term adjustment to the family income supplement, or some other mechanism for those without children? Has the Tánaiste sought increased powers for the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, in light of the increasing pressures on the private rental sector, on which one in five families now rely? Will the Tánaiste consider rent caps, even for a limited duration? It is either one or the other.
I thank the Deputy and extend my good wishes to her and to everybody else in the House for a happy and peaceful Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year.
In respect of rent supplement, I will first reiterate what I have stated previously. The approach my Department has been taking is that it has been particularly involved in trying to identify families who are at risk of losing their rented accommodation because landlords are in many cases suddenly seeking hugely increased rents. While this certainly is a problem, what my Department has been and is doing is to emphasise a case-by-case management approach to each individual family in difficulty, which I believe to be the best approach. However, the core underlying problem - the Deputy and I have discussed this previously and I believe we both agree - is that for a long time either no social housing or insufficient social housing has been built in Ireland.
Hear, hear.
In the budget, the Government sought to put together the largest capital programme for housing in a generation. I note that this has been welcomed by Deputies on all sides of the House because, ultimately, increasing supply is the only long-term and medium-term way to address the issue arising from the fact that Ireland has a growing population. Moreover, the population of families with young children is growing hugely, and such people need accommodation on a long-term basis for themselves and their families. The only way in which many of them ever will get that is - as happened up to ten years ago in Ireland - through the provision of an adequate amount of social housing. A family will get a key to their own hall door, and when they close that door they can be sure that no landlord will arbitrarily arrive and suddenly demand enormous increases in the rent payable, regardless of whether they are working. This is the vision to which Members should aspire - namely, that families are provided both with opportunities of purchasing homes on an affordable basis and with homes to rent, either through housing agencies or the local authorities, in order that they can have long-term security of tenure and the key to that hall door which they can be sure will be theirs and their children's for as long as is required.
I have written to community welfare officers, and as recently as last week I met all-----
If one can be found.
-----the regional managers of the community welfare services to emphasise the discretionary power they have in the law to deal with individual cases. At this point in time, under the protocol that the Department has been working on with Threshold and other agencies since the middle of June, more than 300 families have been housed. Moreover, the Department has been rolling out tailored responses on a localised basis to the issues as they arise in different towns and cities throughout Ireland. I consider this to be the best way of reaching the families and individuals who have difficulties.
Why does the Tánaiste not bring in rent controls once and for all and stop the increases?
Please. I call Deputy Catherine Murphy for a supplementary question.
I asked the Tánaiste a number of questions she did not answer. Is the amount of money finite or is it likely to be increased? I also asked her about possible short-term rent caps, increased powers for the PRTB and about something akin to a family income supplement. I acknowledge that from what I can discern, there has been a noticeable difference with regard to community welfare officers, which is welcome. I am interested in practical solutions, but we cannot continue to use the supply-side argument exclusively, because if we take that to its logical conclusion, essentially we are telling people to go off and hibernate.
Another point is that the short-term action plan focuses heavily on Dublin, which is the epicentre of the problem. While it will be extended to Cork city and county, it does not extend to an area identified by the Simon Community, namely, the periphery of Dublin, along with counties such as Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. For example, a county like Kildare is bigger than Limerick city and county put together, but it does not have a city in the middle. Similarly, the pressures on counties such as Wicklow or Meath are just as bad as those on Cork county. Consequently, one really must look at where people live, rather than stating "There is a city, and that is where the problem is." I have a serious problem with that. I acknowledge that there is a housing programme that will extend into the lifetime of the successor to the present Government before houses actually will be delivered. Short-term solutions are absolutely essential, and one thing that is becoming evident is the role the banks are playing with regard to the buy-to-let sector, in which people are increasingly at risk of losing their homes because banks are forcing sales. Increasingly, people are being evicted as a consequence of this trend, and that must be addressed. I ask the Tánaiste to address the questions I asked in the first instance.
And high rents.
First, in respect of the Deputy's question on the amount of the budget and the amount of money allocated, I wish to make clear that this is flexible. Obviously, as the Deputy herself has described, it depends on how rent pressures can vary from area to area. For instance, I am conscious that in the constituency represented by the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, in the south east of the city centre, the presence of information technology giants such as Google and social media companies has meant there is intense pressure on rents due to the number of people who work in the new industries. Obviously, in County Kildare, companies such as Intel and HP are enormous employers and, again, as the Deputy is aware, there is a huge private market of people in work seeking to rent houses for three or five years. This is one reason for the difficulty in respect of housing supply.
I also wish to say, with regard to the Deputy's comments-----
Members know what the problem is. What will the Tánaiste do about it?
The Deputy asked a serious question and I want to try to explain the answer to her.
The Tánaiste has the floor.
Members are looking for solutions, not a statement of what the problem is.
The Tánaiste to reply, please.
The Deputy should have some manners.
I believe Deputy Catherine Murphy would like to hear the answer, and she asked the question on the Deputy's behalf.
I would like the Tánaiste to answer the question. The Dáil would like her to answer the question.
Sorry; the Tánaiste has the floor.
Empty vessels make a lot of noise.
She should not tell us what the problem is.
When Deputies opposite were in control, no houses were being built.
We all know what the problem is.
Please, can we settle down now?
On the Deputy's question about the operation of the banks at present with regard to buy-to-let mortgages, many of which are in difficulty, as recently as last week there was a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee at which this was discussed in some detail. My view is that we might have an arrangement whereby, when a bank appoints a receiver, it could be a rent receiver.
There is no doubt that in some cases receivers are, in effect, seeking quick vacant possession, and this is increasing the pressure. Many buy-to-let landlords are, perhaps, accidental or part-time landlords and they are now handing back their houses. A receiver may not be aware of the difficulties that a repossession may pose for a tenant. The banks have an obligation to citizens in this country to take into account the impact on tenants of their seeking a sudden or rapid vacant possession. I am happy to talk to the banks about the impact of this on tenants in receipt of rent supplement, because the Department will continue to pay the rent. Unless the house is to be sold immediately, it would appear to me that there is a great deal of scope for an agreement in regard to a further letting period, notwithstanding that the house may ultimately be sold.
In regard to housing supply, approximately 600 of the 1,000 boarded up houses, particularly in the Dublin area, which are known also as voids because the tenancy was surrendered, will be available for re-let by end April 2015, with the remainder coming on stream during the rest of the year. Although it takes time to build houses, there will be additional supply coming on stream next year.
What about rent controls? It is a big issue.
Deputy Ellis did not ask a question.
The Government is ducking and dodging.
The question was not asked by Deputy Ellis.